You want to reference a game where Supports have even more lethality, and everybody has a regen passive, as evidence of Roles needing to be more co-dependant?
Or games that are a heck of a lot more “Shooter” than Overwatch as evidence of “More Shooter is bad”?
Honestly, I love these blog posts. I think it can be really frustrating for the community when it feels like there is no communication. I would rather them repeat themselves more than once if it means they are communicating what they are thinking / planning on, or whatever their views are. Even if it is just a simple “no news yet” is still nice to hear.
So, I am glad that even if we don’t learn a whole lot from this one, it is still nice.
Are you serious? Its about being unique, or giving a fun vibe to the game. You can play any “class based shooter”, but why would you when you could play Overwatch? Or lets put it this way: I’m making a fantasy survival game, but its set in the modern day and you have to use equal parts of magic, technology, and gunplay.
Should I stop? Should I say “Why should my game be a unique survival game? I should instead make The Last of Us or Metro 2033 again!”?
The fact that its a class based shooter that’s INSPIRED by Moba or RPG design could be overwatches “thing”. It’s the thing that would let it step forward from the crowd.
no mention of predatory monetization? its a big part of why the game feels unrewarding as well…
Doesn’t have to, but it would certainly lose me as a player if they went that direction. This game interests me in large part because of that role design. Take that away, and I think that would in the long run be harmful to the game. I doubt they would pull or retain enough players with such a change to make up for lost players.
It’s suggesting almost a completely different game than what attracted players to the game initially.
Very serious. Why design Overwatch around a FPS/MOBA ratio that shows nothing but business failures. Meanwhile the alternative FPS/MOBA ratio has some of the most successful games on the planet. And it’s not like Videogame Players just magically appear out of nowhere. For the most part, gamers have to come from some other game. So they should be pulling players from games with thriving playerbases, not literally dead games that weren’t able to get enough attention to keep running the servers.
The way I see it, here’s a spectrum of FPS Mechanics to MOBA Mechanics.
So when I hear stuff like “Oh you just wanna make it exactly like CoD” it kinda makes my eyes roll.
Ditto for when people insist Overwatch Roles need to follow DOTA/LoL/WoW guidelines.
It’s almost on par with saying “One less Tank, and the game instantly becomes CounterStrike”.
Trying to argue that OW2 needs to be role based is a lost cause. The shooter fans prefer the focus to be on dps for every role. They don’t like having distinct roles that reward playing that role. I gave up during OW1 when the balance was clearly going away from unique roles.
This is an esports online shooter like Fortnite, Apex, Valorant, etc. It is all about doing damage, heavy dps focus, and people being able to get ‘exciting’ big plays as a shooter. Headshots, etc. So those types of players have zero interest in a team and role based shooter that leans more towards strategic ability play.
That’s why this game is chasing all of those other games, and failing to capture the same excitement. They are trying to emulate Fortnite with these crossovers. Apparently a lot of people bought the $20-$40 skins, so they are excited to sell you more. So again, this game will continue to exist for the esports/online shooter fan that is also a whale for cosmetic purchases. Crossovers, not campaigns lol. Just track Twitch viewership if you want to see how low the IP has fallen as far as a following.
I do appreciate them trying to communicate, but it doesn’t change the core issues and I doubt the sales of cosmetics will keep them going forever. Especially if OWL falls apart.
Yeah, the hair on the Genji Genos was pretty bad. Kiriko’s stands out to me more primarily because she’s a hero I often play.
The big issue with Kiriko though was that they did very little to make her outfit closer to the geometry of Terrible Tornado’s outfit. It really just looked like a cheaply made palette swap with different hair, which might have been okay if it was priced significantly lower.
Players want the game to recognize their time and skill investment as well as give them a way to show this to others
We’re also working on a much larger Hero and player progression system that we’re hopeful will launch later this year.
For the first time…I have hope again.
Thank you, sincerely. I think you finally get it. Permanent progression matters
Just to jump in on one point. I believe the devs most definitely want to make it more like COD Warzone. The trend towards esports/online shooter started back in OW1. It’s not an insult either. I accept that this game is for those types of players. It just left a lot of other players behind by doing that.
Various reasons.
1.) Overwatch’s initial design is what got people into the game in the first place.
2.) Several games have failed (in the eyes of the consumer at least) because they tried to follow trends too closely. Halo 4, 5, Infinte and Dead Space 3 comes to mind. It pains me that I could list Halo so much.
3.) You simply must have a unique bone in your body if you want to succeed. Look at all of the failed Battle Royale games that came out to ape Fortnite’s success. Apex Legends did it and succeeded, but where one succeeded, dozens failed.
4.) I’m not convinced Overwatch failed BECAUSE of the initial MMORPG/Moba inspiration. I remember back when it was more Moba/RPG like, and there was nothing but fun videos on youtube and everyone having a ball. You know what changed? They started chasing the audience that wanted the game to be faster paced.
On that last note, I could literally make an essay, a straight youtube video essay, on how Overwatch failed EXCLUSIVELY because it betrayed its roots. If anything, we needed it to be MORE Moba like. MORE RPG like. And why not? We bought the game because it was unique like that, right?
I think you’re misunderstanding, though. What you’re saying now has gotten games killed numerous times. The Culling, for example, took what people liked about the game and threw it out. When The Culling 2 dropped, it was a trash PUBG knockoff that was literally dead on arrival. This WILL happen to Overwatch if they focus on attracting players by betraying their roots.
You can’t make Overwatch anything other than a FPS/MOBA hybrid. You simply can’t. Its baked into its identity. You can’t take Team Fortress 2 and turn it into Overwatch. You can’t take Sonic and turn it into Mario.
And again, I’m putting my neck on the line here. Right now I’m trying to make a unique game with a unique vibe. I’m just putting the finishing touches on a character. Should I give up and say “Who could possibly want a UNIQUE game?”?
more like another large store update
Well one thing I see, is that for what few RPG/MOBA focused players Overwatch 2 has, a lot of them are going to get pulled into PVE. Which means PVP will have an even more FPS focused crowd.
That said, I wouldn’t say “more like CoD”, I’d say “More like Apex” or “More like Team Fortress 2”.
so basically they aren’t fixing the only important thing in this game “matchmaking” gg blizzard gg
In earlier interviews they mentioned that there was a mistake where Quickplay ELO search ranges, and Comp ELO search ranges were linked and could not be separated.
But they said that should be fixed, starting Season 4. So that should be a huge improvement to Comp matchmaking in Season 4.
But you’re not really explaining how you think changing it will bring more players in compared to what they are losing possibly.
And Grey, I just don’t think you have the information to really support that stance to be frank. OW fills its own niche, I don’t think it should become more like other games. If I did, I’d just play those games lol.
This isn’t meant to be a slight against you, but how do you know what you’re suggesting is something that would actually be beneficial and not something you perceive to be an issue when it isn’t, similar to your previous concerns about needing more support players for the queues and what not?
I just don’t understand how it’s eye roll worthy. I’m not saying they can’t move more in one direction or the other, though I think the role system as it is shouldn’t change because it would be a less enjoyable game for me. The main aspect that drove me to buy the game (the fact I could tank or heal mostly in a game type I wasn’t used being FPS).
I honestly hope they do because at this rate if they don’t fix it soon this game will be dead for the competitive scene. basically all you’ll have left is the weekend warrior casuals.
Oh yeah, see the original OW2, the one focused on pve, was what all of us non dps focused players were looking for. Those of us that wanted something more than an online shooter. Most of us are not even playing OW2. The few of us left barely play at all, so Blizzard is missing out.
I agree that if they ever do pve, the pvp side will become even more shooter focused and the player base there getting more hardcore. You’re milage will vary if that’s a good thing or not. I doubt it gets happier and friendlier lol. We still dont know what exactly they have planned for ‘pve’. The old game was scrapped and their hints have made me thing they are doing Archive like event modes. Nothing like what was part of that other OW2.
That’s really splitting hairs though. Also, Activision pressured the Blizzard side into changing OW2 into what it is now. They clearly wanted another COD Warzone in the Overwatch universe. Sure, its not a one to one same game, but the steps have clearly gone in that direction. More like Apex isnt much better and no, this isnt TF2. TF2 has clear roles defined by characters with vastly different gameplay and a much less ‘balanced’ philosophy.
The problem with the fan version of genji’s hair in that pic is that it doesn’t fit with the style of everyone else’s hair in the game. Not that it doesn’t look good, but if you look at the design of other heroes, they have a blockier, more solid look to their hair (almost like its made of strips of clay)
Whereas the fan-made one has a ton of tiny spikes and flips to mimic the anime version. IMO the best compromise would be to model it like Kiriko’s hair but remove the ponytail + headpiece. So its still a short cut with bangs while retaining the more cartoony style.
What players?
Where are the players that are currently playing highly successful MOBA first, FPS second games?
Where are the players that enjoyed playing sedentary meatshield Tanks in OW1 in quantities that wouldn’t cause queue times issues?
With a large chunk of the MOBA focused OW2 players permanently moving to PVE, isn’t that just going to make it so that there’s a higher concentration of FPS focused players in PVP?
Heck, if we go back to OW1 2016, where the highest amount of heals was Mercy/Lucio. Do you think that was focused on MOBA style Defence Spam at a GOATs and DoubleBarrier tier level? Or was it far closer to what 5v5 offers?